


Noticing Jake

by kat_atthewisco



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Oops, but it’s got a pretty cute ending, definitely not quiiiite canon-compliant, like this is definitely a worse time with the mafia than it was in the show, very angsty start
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21865972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kat_atthewisco/pseuds/kat_atthewisco
Summary: When Jake returns from his time undercover, he has changed. His family at the 99 sees it in every detail. They also see the slow progression back to the Jake they know. Their Jake.
Relationships: Jake Peralta & Amy Santiago
Comments: 2
Kudos: 86





	Noticing Jake

Jake comes back, but he is not the same Jake. Amy recognizes the face, though it is slimmer and those brown eyes are more haunted. Rosa recognizes the voice, though it is just a little less cheerful a good many days. Gina recognizes the clothes, though they are a little more wrinkled than she remembers. There were other changes in him, too, ones that only someone on the squad would notice. 

Amy notices the very increased stamina the first time she pursues a criminal with him after he came back. She also notices that he is far less gentle than usual when he apprehends their suspect. 

Rosa notices the slight decrease in patience when the printer acts up. Instead of cracking jokes about its uselessness after waiting for a few minutes, Jake has a tendency to smack it, roll his eyes, and walk away. 

Charles notices the lack of incessant teasing from Jake’s desk. He almost never starts any of their exchanges anymore, though he engages when Charles starts it. 

Gina notices the uptick in emails to the Captain rather than Jake sashaying past her desk to deliver the news to Holt in person. She also notices the way he tenses, hands shaking and eyes darkening, when she calls him “Jakey” about a week after his return. She pretends to remain flippant, but she never uses that nickname again.

Terry notices the change in Jake’s interrogations. They become darker, and louder. Jake is more than willing to yell and get in someone’s face, and not in a joking way. 

Hitchcock and Scully don’t act like they notice much, but they do. They miss the Jake that actually paid them any mind, even if it was to raise an eyebrow at them. This Jake barely says anything to them except “excuse me” when they inevitably block the coffee maker. 

And Captain Holt? He notices the steep increase in productivity from his best detective. But he notices the decline in personal details in reports. Jake had always been one to include odd details he had noticed and frequent commentaries, and more than once it was one of those remarks that had helped crack the case wide open. But now Jake sticks to the facts. Important notes are made using footnotes, which Holt would appreciate in normal circumstances, but this was Jake. Normal for him was barely legible handwriting and stream-of-consciousness reports, not organized and impersonal. 

The squad notices Jake, and they tell him so. He smiles softly and thanks them, but assures them he is fine, really. They don’t believe him, of course, but they stop bringing it up and instead keep up with their watching. It is that watchfulness that alerts them when Jake starts to change again. 

Jake, though he keeps up with whatever exercise routine he got into while undercover, no longer puts the cuffs on their perps just a little too tight anymore. He leaves that to Rosa. 

Jake becomes more patient, though he still whacks the printer every now and again. But it is almost always accompanied by a joke. 

The banter picks back up. Jake is back to starting playful arguments and making fun of his coworkers. He always has a “title of your sextape” joke ready for Amy and a “toit” or a “smort” to remark upon his work in the field. 

Jake almost never emails Captain Holt anymore, back to preferring to deliver things in person. He is back to insisting that his intonation makes the report, or whatever he happens to need to communicate to Holt. Gina still never calls him “Jakey”, but she comes up with a whole host of nicknames to replace it. 

Terry enjoys interrogations with Jake again. Jake cracks jokes and only plays “bad cop” in jest, quickly breaking the façade with his boyish grin. 

Jake is back to teasing Hitchcock and Scully and enjoying their shenanigans. Nobody has ever been happier to be made fun of than they are. 

Jake’s reports are also back to normal. He still throws in footnotes every so often, as if he knows Holt enjoys them, but more than once they include things like “made you look!”, which, if he is being honest, Holt finds mildly entertaining. Jake’s productivity doesn’t drop much, which Holt counts as a win, but his reports go back to stream-of-consciousness, and those offhand notes and remarks are back to helping solve cases. 

By the time Amy finds the scars when she and Jake start dating a year later, Jake is willing to talk about them, and she asks questions softly and traces old wounds delicately. Some of Jake’s explanations make Amy’s breath hitch, and Jake makes sure to give Amy’s hand or shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He assures her that he is okay, save for the occasional nightmare, but he isn’t scared of them with Amy by his side. 

When the two of them fall asleep together that night, Jake knows one thing for certain that he has been waiting a long time for. 

Jakey the Jew is dead and gone.


End file.
